Psalm 89:1-18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 89
God’s Covenant with David
A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
1 I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord,[a] forever;
with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.(A)
2 I declare that your steadfast love is established forever;
your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.(B)
3 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to my servant David:(C)
4 ‘I will establish your descendants forever
and build your throne for all generations.’ ” Selah(D)
5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.(E)
6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,(F)
7 a God feared in the council of the holy ones,
great and awesome[b] above all who are around him?(G)
8 O Lord God of hosts,
who is as mighty as you, O Lord?
Your faithfulness surrounds you.(H)
9 You rule the raging of the sea;
when its waves rise, you still them.(I)
10 You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.(J)
11 The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
the world and all that is in it—you founded them.(K)
12 The north and the south[c]—you created them;
Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.(L)
13 You have a mighty arm;
strong is your hand, high your right hand.(M)
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.(N)
15 Happy are the people who know the festal shout,
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance;(O)
16 they exult in your name all day long
and extol[d] your righteousness.
17 For you are the glory of their strength;
by your favor our horn is exalted.(P)
18 For our shield belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.(Q)
Ezekiel 4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Siege of Jerusalem Portrayed
4 “And you, O mortal, take a brick and set it before you. On it portray a city, Jerusalem,(A) 2 and put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a ramp against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around.(B) 3 Then take an iron plate and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.(C)
4 “Then lie on your left side and place the guilt of the house of Israel upon it; you shall bear their guilt for the number of the days that you lie there.(D) 5 For I assign to you a number of days, three hundred ninety days, equal to the number of the years of their guilt, and so you shall bear the guilt of the house of Israel.(E) 6 When you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the guilt of the house of Judah; forty days I assign you, one day for each year. 7 You shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and with your arm bared you shall prophesy against it.(F) 8 See, I am putting cords on you so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.(G)
9 “And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them into one vessel and make bread for yourself. During the number of days that you lie on your side, three hundred ninety days, you shall eat it. 10 The food that you eat shall be twenty shekels a day by weight; at fixed times you shall eat it. 11 And you shall drink water by measure, one-sixth of a hin; at fixed times you shall drink. 12 You shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dung.”(H) 13 The Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread, unclean, among the nations to which I will drive them.”(I) 14 Then I said, “Ah Lord God! I have never defiled myself; from my youth up until now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by animals, nor has carrion flesh come into my mouth.”(J) 15 Then he said to me, “See, I will let you have cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.”
16 Then he said to me, “Mortal, I am going to cut off the supply of bread[a] in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with fearfulness, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay.(K) 17 Lacking bread and water, they will look at one another in dismay and waste away under their punishment.(L)
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- 4.16 Heb staff of bread
Hebrews 6:1-12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Peril of Falling Away
6 Therefore let us go on[a] toward perfection,[b] leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ and not laying again the foundation: repentance from dead works and faith toward God,(A) 2 instruction about baptisms and laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.(B) 3 And we will do[c] this, if God permits. 4 For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit(C) 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come(D) 6 and then have fallen away, since they are crucifying again the Son of God to their own harm and are holding him up to contempt.(E) 7 Ground that drinks up the rain falling on it repeatedly and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God.(F) 8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and on the verge of being cursed; its end is to be burned over.(G)
9 Even though we speak in this way, beloved, we are confident of better things in your case, things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the[d] love that you showed for his sake[e] in serving the saints, as you still do.(H) 11 And we want each one of you to show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end,(I) 12 so that you may not become sluggish but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.(J)
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Luke 9:51-62
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
A Samaritan Village Refuses to Receive Jesus
51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.(A) 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to prepare for his arrival,(B) 53 but they did not receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 When his disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”[a](C) 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 Then[b] they went on to another village.
Would-Be Followers of Jesus
57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”(D) 60 And Jesus[c] said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 And Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
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Psalm 89:19-52
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
19 Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one and said,
“I have set the crown[a] on one who is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.(A)
20 I have found my servant David;
with my holy oil I have anointed him;(B)
21 my hand shall always remain with him;
my arm also shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not outwit him;
the wicked shall not humble him.(C)
23 I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.(D)
24 My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him,
and in my name his horn shall be exalted.(E)
25 I will set his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the Rock of my salvation!’(F)
27 I will make him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.(G)
28 Forever I will keep my steadfast love for him,
and my covenant with him will stand firm.(H)
29 I will establish his line forever
and his throne as long as the heavens endure.(I)
30 If his children forsake my law
and do not walk according to my ordinances,(J)
31 if they violate my statutes
and do not keep my commandments,
32 then I will punish their transgression with the rod
and their iniquity with scourges,(K)
33 but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
or be false to my faithfulness.(L)
34 I will not violate my covenant
or alter the word that went forth from my lips.(M)
35 Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness;
I will not lie to David.(N)
36 His line shall continue forever,
and his throne endure before me like the sun.(O)
37 It shall be established forever like the moon,
an enduring witness in the skies.” Selah
38 But now you have spurned and rejected him;
you are full of wrath against your anointed.(P)
39 You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
you have defiled his crown in the dust.(Q)
40 You have broken through all his walls;
you have laid his strongholds in ruins.(R)
41 All who pass by plunder him;
he has become the scorn of his neighbors.(S)
42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.(T)
43 Moreover, you have turned back the edge of his sword,
and you have not supported him in battle.(U)
44 You have removed the scepter from his hand[b]
and hurled his throne to the ground.(V)
45 You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with shame. Selah(W)
46 How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?(X)
47 Remember how short my time is—[c]
for what vanity you have created all mortals!(Y)
48 Who can live and never see death?
Who can escape the power of Sheol? Selah(Z)
49 Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
which by your faithfulness you swore to David?(AA)
50 Remember, O Lord, how your servant is taunted,
how I bear in my bosom the insults of the peoples,[d](AB)
51 with which your enemies taunt, O Lord,
with which they taunted the footsteps of your anointed.(AC)
52 Blessed be the Lord forever.
Amen and Amen.(AD)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.